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Are the sideview mirrors on the Roadster (specifically a 1.5) the same as a Lotus Elise of the same vintage?

Want to bring a Roadster inside a building that's doorway is just a couple of inches too narrow, and I was thinking of having the local Lotus dealer remove the mirrors and reinstall them once the car is (carefully) driven inside.

I know of course that with the mirrors folded, the width will be narrower, but I'd like to have a bit more margin of error for the tight passage.

Has anyone done anything like this before?

With the mirrors folded in, would the mirrors still be the widest part of the car (or the fender over either the front or rear wheels)?

Does anyone have an accurate measurement of the width of the car (the car is not in nearby, I can't measure myself) with the sideview mirrors folded in? By any chance, the width with the two mirror assemblies removed?

I have uploaded the diagram of the Lotus Elise sideview mirror, which sure looks the same as the Roadster.

FWIW, posts on Lotustalk.com (How to remove side mirrors? - LotusTalk - The Lotus Cars Community) imply its not too tricky. Talking to the service manager at the Burlingame Service Center, and he thought it be tricky (he has seen a lot of Roadsters). I spoke with the manager of an Authorized Tesla Bodyshop, and he was unfamiliar with the process.

Thanks. Sounds like someone that knows how to work on a Lotus Elise (such as a dealer or authorized body shop) should be able to remove and re-install on a Tesla Roadster.

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I wouldn't guarantee that. Most likely they may damage your door panel removing it, that's different than the Elise due to the location of the snaps. You should print out a helper pic for them, you can find one here on TMC that shows you where all the snaps and bolt locations are. You need to take off the door panel to get to one or two of the mirror screws. Anyone can remove/install mirrors. The main thing you want to ensure is that the vehicle is returned in the same shape as it was before the task was performed. And many shops won't tell you what they broke since they most likely will be paying for the replacement.

Thing is you shouldn't need to remove the mirrors, the stock mirrors don't stick out past the rear width of the Roadster. You'll crush the rear of the Roadster before damaging your mirrors. I'd just try to remove the outside mirror portion and leave the stalk if you do really want to remove them. I hate removing the door panels, although I'm good at it, because its always a risk cracking it so they're better left alone. Also you may wake up some creaks when taking and putting things back together. The door panels are very very brittle, I've see a few crack and that's easy to do.

I'd just have a couple good spotters on each side of the car and not remove the mirrors if it was me.

Some precise measurement of the car are being taken, as well as the threshold it has to pass through. The mirrors are spring loaded, so someone on both sides can push them in just as them in as they as passing through the doors. I'll be sure to measure the rear width of the car, the fenders do seem to flare out a bit.

I am hoping someone (really a couple of people - its at least a two person job to do it accurately) can measure the width at two locations.

1) By the sideview mirrors, with them folded in
2) By the rear fender, or "hips" of the car.

The Roadster now is in a self-storage center, with just one person that has access. We don't want to really let people know an expensive car is being stored their, so the measurement taken yesterday was done by a single person. A cloth or other soft measuring tape would be best. We got 71.5" (181.6 cm) in both cases. We are considering it 72.5" (184.2 cm), as it tough to be very accurate with just one person measuring, esp. for the rear fender, as the tires are in the way, so the tape can't be laid down on the ground.

Attached Files:

Based on dimensions from the 2.0 Owner's Manual (attached PNG) it doesn't seem like the mirrors will be the issue.

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That's what I thought. I pulled out my manual and saw the same thing. But then I went to the garage and looked at the car. The drawing in the manual is accurate. The mirrors overhang by about 2.5" on either side.

There is some savings on the width with the mirror folded in, but I am not sure which is wider when the mirrors are folded - either the mirrors (folded) or the rear end of the car.

I am hoping someone has time (with a buddy) to take the measurements, as I'd feel more confident with a measurement of these two chock points if its taken by two (or more) people working together. Only one person measuring was tricky, esp. for the rear end.

The car was able to pass through three sets of doorways with only 71.5" (182 cm) of clearance. Doors (from the doorway, not the car) were removed to get me a few extra inches/cm.

With spotter pushing in the rear view mirrors as the car was passing through the doorway, the car's width was reduced to 68.5 inches (174 cm). The width of the rear fenders of the car, which flare out be the wides part of the car, excluding the sideview mirrors. This allowed 3 inches (7.6 cm) of total clearance, or 1.5 inches (3.8 cm) on either side, assuming you get the car dead centered. The car many "spotter" Two to push in the mirror before the passageway, two more on the other wide of the passage way, as well as someone in front of the car to make sure the car is being driven on a center line (a center line of painter's masking tape was laid down on the floor to help).

DISCLAMER: This was my experience. As a limited prodoction car, their could be a "manufacturing tolerance" that could vary from car to car. If you are reading this post, it might mean you are considering a tight passage, so while I hope my post is helpful to you, don't rely in it (or anyone else's measurements as definitive). Remember the old adage, measure twice, cut once. Measure, measure, measure!

If anyone wants to send me a PM for more detailed info, you are welcome to, but I am not on TMC regularly. One tip I will share is that its super important that you get the car "lined up" to the exact center of the tight passageway. You don't want to make any unnecessary adjustments. Goal is to (slowly) creep forward very slowing with the help of your spotters.

Fair question. The Tesla Science Center, who will be building a future permanent museum and educational center at the site of Nikola Tesla's laboratory in Wardenclyffe (Shoreham), New York is having a temporary exhibit in Stony Brook, New York, and asked that the car be displayed to help draw interest. The exhibit space had these tight structural passageways. I can assure you it was not done to find a cheap indoor place to store the car.

If you are in the NYC/Long Island area, worth checking out and supporting.

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